The ambition for the 19th edition of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 (FWBWC2022) was to deliver the most sustainable event since inception and create a Sustainability Blueprint Framework from the learnings for future major and mega events as a part of Legacy.
Melissa King, Chief Executive of the Local Organising Committee announced today that the post event materiality assessment has been completed by Pangolin Associates who found the event created unavoidable emissions of 14,062 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The LOC has purchased the equivalent offsets through verified and impactful carbon offsets projects to deliver a carbon neutral event.
“We could not have achieved this without the contributions from ticket buyers, the International Federation (FIBA), Australian Government, participating Team Delegations, our staff and volunteers.”
Minister For Sport, Anika Wells said “The Australian Government proudly supported the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which exceeded expectations.
“Being a carbon neutral event is an outstanding achievement and the development of the Sustainable Event Blueprint will be an important legacy for future events during the Green and Gold Decade.”
The Sustainability Program had three focus areas – reducing environmental impacts, sourcing responsibly and inspiring and educating. Each of these areas achieved positive results including:
- 90% of attendees used the train to come to the games thanks to free travel provided by NSW Government as part of the ticket purchase
- 12 tonnes of material was recovered from the total waste generated during the event and sent for recycling, upcycling or composting.
- The event branding suppliers Twenty3 and Evans Evans included a post-event disposal solution as part of their proposal resulting in fabric banners being repurposed in the making of new mattresses, and corflute returned to the supplier to be converted back into beads for use in new products – a great example of circular economy.
- More difficult items to recycle such as leftover lanyards were recycled through Terracycle, an innovative recycling organisation, offering solutions for hard-to-recycle materials.
- 95% of food packaging was certified compostable. As a result, these items could be placed in the organic bin for composting.
“The Sustainable Event Blueprint, developed in collaboration with MI Global Partners, is complete and a key component of Legacy for sport and future events. It is a comprehensive piece of work providing guidance on factors for consideration when thinking about event sustainability. The Report and Quick Guide will be made available on the Federal Office for Sport Website, hoping they will serve as a source of knowledge and inspiration”, said Stephanie Lebeau, Sustainability Manager, Local Organising Committee.
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.